Officials: Woman indicted on driving, drug charges in death of bicyclist in Montauk

A Montauk woman was indicted Monday on a slew of driving and drug charges for fatally striking a bicyclist with her pickup truck in October while drunk, Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini said.

Lisa Rooney, 31, faces 11 charges including aggravated vehicular homicide, first-degree vehicular manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter, aggravated driving while intoxicated and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Prosecutors say about 6 p.m. on Oct. 30, Rooney was behind the wheel of a 2019 Chevrolet Silverado northbound on Flamingo Avenue in Montauk, when the vehicle veered into the oncoming lane of traffic. Rooney overcorrected then drove onto the shoulder of the northbound side of the road and struck bicyclist, John James Usma Quintero, 28, of Montauk, officials said.

Quintero was pronounced dead at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, officials said.

Sini said in a statement Monday that Rooney refused a roadside breath test and declined to submit to a chemical test of her blood. Sini’s office secured a warrant for a test of her blood which revealed her blood alcohol content at 0.18 percent three-and-half hours after the crash. A second test of her blood drawn at 10:50 p.m. the night of the crash registered at 0.13 percent, Sini said.

Prosecutors added police recovered several bags of cocaine near Rooney’s pickup and one bag of cocaine on the vehicle’s floorboard, officials said.

Investigators estimated Rooney drove 85 mph during the crash, prosecutors said.

“Every single life that is lost because someone made the selfish, reckless decision to drive drunk is one too many,” Sini said in the statement. “This tragedy was entirely preventable. With this indictment, we will do everything in our power to hold this defendant accountable for her actions.”

Marc Gann, Rooney’s Mineola-based attorney, said his client is remorseful.

“Lisa Rooney and her family are incredibly distressed at the pain that has been inflicted upon the Quintero family and would certainly do anything they could to undo that,” he said.

Quintero’s relatives could not be immediately reached for comment.

Rooney was indicted Monday and released on the condition she continue treatment in a rehabilitation program, officials said. Her license has been suspended and she surrendered her passport. Once she completes the rehabilitation program, she will be required to wear an alcohol monitoring bracelet, prosecutors said.

If she is convicted on the most-serious charge, Rooney faces a maximum sentence of between more than eight years to 25 years in prison, officials said.